Writers Notebooks

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Writers NotebooksAccountable TalkFebruary
20-21, 2008

• Facilitated by Caron Pinkuscaronpink_at_yahoo.com

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Agenda 2/20

• Introductions and opening activity Here I Stand
• Debrief previous workshops with Vicki Scott and
  Geoff Hewitt
• Set purpose Our goals/ Reading and discussion
  protocol
• Exit Slips

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(No Transcript)
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Agenda 2/21

• Icebreaker
• Getting started with writers notebooks looking
  at samples
• Backwards planning for a writing unit
• Incorporating skills work into writers notebooks
  using the workshop model
• Making our writing conferences more productive
• Bringing this back to our teachers process time
• LUNCH
• Segue to accountable talk Reading/ Discussion
  protocol
• Focus on literature circles
• Video Clip/ Discussion protocol
• Bringing this back to our teachers Process time
  and debrief

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What is a writers notebook?

• A place
• for students to build their writing stamina and
  fluency
• where students are able to write everyday
• for students to practice new writing skills and
  strategies
• for students to reflect on what they notice in
  mentor texts
• for students to make observations of text or
  world
• where students can gather ideas and brainstorms
• where students can take notes on the teachers
  mini-lesson
• where students can get teacher and peer feedback
• for students to make revisions and editing
• where a student can demonstrate his/her thinking
  through writing

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Why should we use writers notebooks?

• To help students improve their writing skills
• To help students increase their writing fluency
  and stamina
• To help students be reflective in terms of their
  own writing
• To help students deepen their thinking through
  writing
• To help students build their love of writing

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Looking at Sample Student Notebooks
What do you notice?
What do you like? How do you think writers
notebooks should
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Tips for Getting Started with Writers Notebooks

• Encourage student ownership of their notebooks
• Establish a sense of community
• Instruct students in how to organize their
  notebooks
• Make your expectations clear from the start
• Keep writing workshop structures consistent and
  predictable
• Encourage students to keep all drafts, revisions,
  and edits in their notebooks
• Provide students with written feedback in their
  notebooks as often as possible

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Planning for a Writing Unit Looking at the BIG
PICTURE

• Be deliberate
• Consider enduring understandings, skills and
  strategies, and final product
• Plan for the 5 stages of the writing process
• Step 1 Pre-writing Step 2 Drafting
• Step 3 Revising
• Step 4 Editing
• Step 5 Publishing

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Unit Planning Template

• Content to be covered
• Essential Questions
• Enduring Understandings
• Skills
• Assessments
• Diagnostic
• Formative
• Summative
• Possible Lesson Activities
• Differentiated Resources

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Planning for a Writing Unit

• Looking at the day-to-day lessons

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Writing WorkshopThe components of the workshop
model

• The Mini-Lesson (Approximately 15 minutes)
• Small Group Work/ Independent Practice Time
  (Approximately 25 minutes)
• Share Sessions (Approximately 10 minutes)

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Mini-Lesson

• Clear instructional focus
• Carefully planned, usually as part of a series of
  lessons
• Based on the needs of students and essential
  skills necessary to comprehend and master the
  content
• Teacher models the specific strategy or skill
  that he/she wants students to practice
• Teacher gives direct instruction to the whole
  class
• Brief approximately 15 minutes

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Independent Practice Time

• Students practice the skill or strategy modeled
  during the mini-lesson
• Consistent opportunities to work independently
  for sustained periods of time improve
  comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and the
  mastery of content
• Teacher circulates during small groups or
  independent work, conferencing with particular
  students to provide support and ongoing
  assessment
• Teacher notes students strengths/needs and
  common areas for improvement throughout the class
  to use in future planning
• Approximately 25 minutes

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Share Sessions

• At the end of a workshop to synthesize the work
  that has been done during that period
• Teacher may comment on what he/she noticed as
  students were working in small groups or
  independently
• Students may comment on their struggles or
  successes with the strategy during the work time
• Share sessions provide closure to one days work
  and an opportunity to plan for the next
• Approximately 10 minutes

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Sample Workshop Schedule
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Planning a Mini-Lesson

• Determine the needs of your students. What do
  they need to be successful in this unit/ project/
  assignment? What are they missing?
• Select a focus and strategy for the lesson
• Select engaging and appropriate mentor texts to
  support the selected strategy
• Identify chunks or appropriate stopping places in
  the text to point out the particular writing
  strategy or focus to students Show students that
  you are reading like a writer
• MODEL how to use the strategy demonstrate it
  using your own writing
• From The Board of Education of the City of New
  Yorks Instructional Guide Literacy

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Mini-Lesson Planning Template

• Students needs
• Mini-Lesson Focus/Strategy
• Mentor Text
• Modeling Process
• Independent practice How will students practice
  this strategy?
• Next steps What would be a good follow-up
  lesson?

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Conferring with Students about their Writing

• Move around room to hold individual conferences
  during independent writing
• Determine strengths, weaknesses, differentiate,
  notice general patterns
• Keep conferences short 3 to 5 minutes per
  student

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Three Parts to the Conference

• Research
• Decide
• Teach
• Adapted from Teachers College Writing Project

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Research

• Begin a conference with an open-ended question
  about his/her writing, like Hows it going?
• Ask the student a question to help you learn more
  about his/her writing work
• Look at the students writing to gain a deeper
  understanding
• Learn what the writer is planning to do next
• Think about how you could be most helpful to this
  writer in a short period of time

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Decide

• Decide what your teaching point will be and the
  method youll use to teach it
• Will you demonstrate a skill or strategy for the
  writer? Engage him/her in guided practice?
  Provide an explanation and an example?
• Remember, your goal is to improve the writer, not
  simply the particular piece of writing.

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Teach

• Acknowledge what the student has been doing, and
  explain what your teaching point will be.
• Teach Use demonstration, guided practice, or
  explicit explanation to directly instruct the
  student in a skill, strategy, or habit of a good
  writer
• Active engagement Help the student get started
  with trying out what you just taught

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Questions to Help Guide a Writing Conference
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Recording Conference Notes
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Accountable Talk

• Literature Circles andDiscussion Protocols

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What is accountable talk?

• In a strong accountable talk, students
• Actively participate in a discussion with other
  students, in pairs, small groups, or whole-class
  configurations
• Actively listen to one another
• Engage in critical thinking as they ask and
  answer questions
• Build upon each others ideas
• Challenge each others ideas
• Provide evidence to support their points

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What is accountable talk?

• In a strong accountable talk, the teacher
• Actively listens to students questions and
  responses
• Takes notes to assess students skills
• Plays the role of coach, and lets students lead
  the discussion

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Why should we use accountable talk?

• Strong student talk deepens understanding
• It engages students in their learning process
• It models for students strong discussion skills
• It models for students critical thinking skills
• It can strengthen students writing

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Three Different Types of Accountable Talk

• Literature Circles
• Discussion Protocols
• Fishbowl

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Why literature circles?

• Deepens students understanding of the texts
• Perfect for the academically diverse classroom
  helps differentiate the process so that all
  students will be able to accomplish similar exit
  products and have similar content knowledge for
  the unit
• Provides students autonomy and a sense of
  ownership over their own learning
• Promotes student choice and students
  self-awareness of skills
• Adds layers and richness to whole class
  discussion as students compare and contrast their
  texts
• Adds layers and richness to students writing as
  they reflect on the discussion

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BEFORE the literature circles

• Step 1 Assess Reading Levels
• Step 2 Book Gathering
• Step 3 Lets Go Shopping
• Step 4 Establish Talk Tenets
• Step 5 Facilitate students planning of their
  groups reading schedule
• Step 6 Introduce Students to the Roles for
  Literature Circles
• Step 7 Help students create strong discussion
  questions

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Step 5 Facilitate students planning of their
groups reading schedule Literature Circles Fall
2007 Planning Backwards Our Reading Schedule My
Name ___________________ My Partners Names
_______________ Title of Book
_________________ Author _____________________
____ Directions All groups must finish their
literature circle book by Wednesday, October
19th. Keeping this in mind, please complete your
reading schedule in the calendar below
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Step 6 Introduce Students to the Roles for
Literature Circles

• Facilitator
• Illustrator
• Investigator
• Connector

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Step 7 Help students create strong discussion
questions

• Part one Use the text open the book!
• Part Two Include Depth of Thought!
• Part Three Include the Habits of Mind!

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DURING the Literature Circles Assessment for
Literature Circles Teacher Grading
______________ Date ______________ Table
_______ Students ___________________________
__________________________________________ Title
of Book ____________________________ Author
________________________
Total Score ___/25 Additional Feedback
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AFTER Literature Circles

• Students will get feedback from you, their
  teacher, on how they did during their literature
  circle discussion
• But before you give them your feedback, they
  should reflect on how they think they did
• Reflection can be written or oral, and should
  include goal setting, for both individual and
  group goals, for the next literature circle
  meeting

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Literature Circles Assessment Please evaluate
yourself and your group-mates on a scale of 1-5
for each of the following categories
Individual goals for the next meeting Group
goals for the next meeting
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Video Clip

• Using the literature circles grading rubric, what
  warm and cool feedback would you give to this
  group?
• What connections can you make to your own
  classroom as you watch these 7th graders? What
  questions, comments, and suggestions come to mind
  as you view this clip of literature circles in
  action?
• How can we use literature circles to help
  strengthen students writing?

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Discussion Protocols

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